Container with disposable liner



Oct. 22, 1968 LA MARTHNE s. McLEoD 3,406,853v

CONTAINER WITH DISPOSABLE LINER Filed Aug. 9, 1966 y INVNTOR. M1-15: /VZfa [f4/VZ: JM

4am 9 fr0 AWE v s United States Patent() 3,406,853 CONTAINER WITH DISPOSABLE LINER La Martine S. McLeod, 116 Wynngate Road, Savannah, Ga. 31404 Filed Aug. 9, 1966, Ser. No. 571,256 7 Claims. (Cl. 21S-11) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A sanitary disposable flexible tube, which can be stored at and has an open end and a closed end, is provided with at least one flexible supporting strip adjacent its open end with the lower edge of each strip being supported on a shelf of a container and the outer surface of each strip engaging the inner surface of the container. The lid or nipple of the container engages the upper edge of each supporting strip so that each strip is held between the shelf and the lid or nipple thereby holding the tube in place.

This invention relates to disposable liners and more particularly to disposable liners for permanent bottles where such liners may be discarded after each use and fresh liners used with the same permanent bottle.

It is known to provide disposable liners for containers for food and beverages. The liners may be pre-sterilized and ready for use. The liners may be of relatively inexpensive construction and they may be conveniently discarded after each use. In this manner, clean, sanitary and sterile containers may be economically provided which need not be sterilized after each use. An example of such a liner is shown in U.S. Patent 3,161,311, issued Dec. 15, 1964, to Boston.

There are many disadvantages with the disposable liners of the prior art. Since the primary advantages in using a linear are that it is sterile and yconvenient to use, it is extremely desirable that the liner may be easily positioned and used without handling of the inside surfaces thereof. In this regard, the disposable liners of the prior art require extensive manipulation and positioning before they are in place and ready for use. Additionally, even after the liner is in position inside the container, it may be diicult for one person to lill the lined bottle with the desired beverage or food and then securely attached the closure on top thereof.

It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide a novel disposable liner for permanent containers. It is another object of the present invention to provide a permanent bottle designed for use in conjunction with said disposable liner.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel disposable liner and permanent container combination which is simple to use.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide pre-sterilized disposable liners, for use in a permanent bottle, which can be used -without the inside surfaces thereof being contaminated by contact wtih human hands.

Still other objects will become apparent to those skilled in the art from a reading of the following specification, drawings and appended claims.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a disposable liner which is made from a flexible material and which has at least one exible stiening strip attached to the outside surface of the liner at the open end thereof. Advantageously, the disposable liner of the present invention may be used in combination with a permanent container designed to accommodate the ilexible stiffening strips of the liner.

The invention is described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate variice ous embodiments of the invention but are not to be regarded as a limitation thereon.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is an exploded perspective view of the disposable liner of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view, partly in section, of the top part of the disposable liner of the invention;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view showing the use 0f the disposable liner in an infants nursing bottle;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view of a portion of the open end of a permanent bottle suitable for use in combination with the disposable liner of the invention;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged View of that part of FIG- URE 3 indicated by lines S-Sg FIGURE 6 is a plan View illustrating the disposable liner with beveled stitfening strips thereon; and

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of the V-shaped stiffening strip.

In FIGURE 1, there is shown a flexible bag or container 2 which forms the body portion of the disposable liner of the present invention. To this flexible bag 2 there is to be attached two flexible stiifening strips or supports 3. To present a clean and neat appearance, it is preferred to have the flexible stiffening strips 3 attached to the outside surfaces of bag 2 at or near the bag opening 4, but it will be appreciated from the following description that the stiffeners can be attached to the inside surfaces of the bag. The stitfening strips 3 have ends 5 and 6.

It can be seen from FIGURE 1 that the strips 3 are of substantially equal length and the length is approximately equal to the width of the bag at the open end. This is preferred for shipping and storage in that the liner can be kept fiat while stored.

The bag 2 may carry markings thereon to indicate accurate volumetric measurements of the contents therein.

In FIGURE 2, stitfening strips 3 are shown attached to the outside surfaces of bag 2 at the bag opening 4. In this view, pressure has been applied to ends 5 and 6 to cause the stiffening strips 3 to bow and form a circular configuration. The pressure applied to ends 5 and 6 can conveniently be executed by compressing the stiffening strips 3 at ends 5 and 6 with the fingers of a hand in a direction longitudinal to the stiffening strips. It can be seen that if the ends of the stiffening strips are beveled, as are the ends 5', 6' of stiifening strips 3' of FIGURE 6, the formation of the circle would be facilitated thereby. The disposable liner in the position shown in FIGURE 2 is ready for insertion into .a permanent container, such as the infant nursing bottle 7 shown in FIGURE 3.

It will be appreciated from the above description that the flexible stitfening strips for the disposable liner may be initially constructed as a circular ring, so that the compressing operation is rendered unnecessary. However, this circular embodiment is not preferred because of its relatively large space requirement in shipping and storage. Another embodiment for the iiexible supports of the disposable liner is a strip 3 with a fold thereon as shown in FIGURE 7 so that the strip is approximately equally divided by the fold. The folded strip 3" would then have the configuration of a very narrow V and the two legs of this V shaped strip would each take the place of one of the stiffening strips 3 shown in FIG- URE 1.

Referring to FIGURE 3, the infant nursing bottle 7 has threads 8 on the outside surfaces at the opening end of the bottle for receiving and Securing a cap 9 thereon. On the inside surface of bottle 7, near the opening end thereof, there is a shelf 10 for receiving and supporting the stiffening strips 3, of the disposable liner. Since the inside circumference of bottle 7 above the shelf 10 is made to be of such a size as to barely accommodate the ring formed by stiffening strips 3, the disposable liner is thus held firmly in place and supported by the inside surface of the bottle and the shelf 10. The lined `bottle is now ready for receiving foodl or` beverages 13. After the liner is thus positioned inside'the bottle, it need not be further held in place by fingers. A nipple-11 having a base 12 is then positioned on top of the bottle opening and on top of the flexible liner. The cap 9 for the bottle 7 is-then secured onto the bottle and over thebase 12 of nipple 11. The filled and lined bottle is then ready for feeding. It is to be noted that in the embodiment of FIGURE 3, the base 12 and stiffening strips 3 may be `made to form a good seal for the lined bottle.

Preferably, there is one or more openings in the body of the bottle 7 for passage of air. Thus, when a fresh disposable liner is positioned into the bottle and when the fresh disposable liner is being filled with fluid, such openings would allow the escape of the air inside the bottle. Conversely, when the contents in the liner are withdrawn, the openings would allow the liner to collapse. The bottom of the bottle 7 may also be left open, such as in the form of a large round hole, to allow fingers to enter and grasp the liner. In addition, the bottle 7 may be marked to indicate accurate measurements of volume. It will be noted that such markings on the bottle would give an accurate measurement of the contents n the liner positioned therein because the disposable liners of the present invention can vbe repeatedly seated within the bottle in an identical position.

In FIGURE 4, a portion of the opening end of the bottle 7 of FIGURE 3 is shown in section. It can be seen from this drawing that if the opening end 4 of the disposable liner is made to protrude slightly above the top edge 14 of bottle 7, a good seal can be formed between the disposable liner and the base 12 of nipple 11 when pressure is applied in a downwardly direction by cap 9. When an ordinary bottle cap is used, the same seal can be formed between the top of the liner and the inside surface of the cap. It can also be seen from FIGURE 4 that the supporting surface of shelf may be slightly slanted downwardly towards the wall of the bottle to further insure that the liner remains in place during use.

FIGURE 5 shows an enlarged view of that portion of FIGURE 3 indicated by line 5 5 with the addition of one feature which is not shown in FIGURE 3. In FIGURE 5, there is shown a `retaining member 15 as an optional part of base 12 of the nipple 11. Retaining member 15 may be simply a downwardly protruding projection of base 12 and having the function of further securing the flexible liner in its intended position. It can be seen that retaining member 15 is an optional feature and has the function of preventing the stiffening strips 3 from slipping off from shelf 10.

The flexible `bag portion of the disposable liner herein may be made of any flexible material such as natural rubber, plastic, resin coated paper, or the like. Polyethylene is a preferred material for making bag 2 for reasons of economy. Flexible stiffening strips 3 may be made of any flexible material such as wood strips, hard rubber and synthetic plastic such as polyethylene, formaldehyde-melamine resins, etc. The flexible stiffening strips 3 may be attached to bag 2 by any conventional means such as by the use of adhesives. The stiffening strips 3 may also be secured to bag 2 by stapling, -but this is not preferred. In certain instances, when the bag and the stiffening strips are made of similar plastic materials, the bonding may be accomplished by simply heating the two together and applying pressure thereto. It will be appreciated that when the bag and stiffening strips are made of the same plastic material, they may be manufactured as one piece by unit molding.

An expedient method for manufacturing the disposable liner of the present invention is to provide a continuous tube of a plastic material, for example, polyethylene, by molding or extrusion. Such a tube may be flattened and then perforated, but not severed, at appropriate intervals to provide sections of plastic tubing material which may be later., individually detached. These perforated sections may each be sealed at one end thereof, such as by heat sealing, and stiffening strips attached to the other end of the sections. In this manner, the disposable liner of the present invention may be continuously manufactured and provided in a rolledup form for easy access and dispensation.

The stiffening strips should be made of sufficient thickness' to have the requisite" strength to support the disposable liner and its contents. The minimum thickness of-the stiffening strips will vary depending on its material of construction and the size-.of the disposable liner. Ordinarily, the stiflfeners need not be more than /gg inch to 1&2 inch thick, e.g., IAM inch.

The bottle 7 may be made of glass or plastic material such as polyethylene or polytetrafluoroethylene. The bottle 7 should have sufficient rigidity so that its shelf 10 can support the flexible liner and the contents therein. Heatresistant plastic materials are the preferred construction materials for the bottle because they are usually nonbreakable.

Although the bottle illustrated in FIGURE 3 is an infants nursing bottle, it will be understood that the invention can be applied to ordinary bottles such as a Mason jar and the like. In particular, the combination of the disposable liner and the permanent bottlel of the present invention is suitable for use in storing leftover foods in refrigerators. When used for that purpose, the bottle of FIGURE 3 needs only be modified by eliminating the nipple 11 and having the cap 9 extending across the entire open end of the bottle 7.

It will be noted that the positioning of the disposable liner of the invention into the bottle is a simple operation which can be carried out with one hand. This is in distinct contrast to the disposable liners of the prior art which must be inserted into a bottle by complicated operations and held in position by human hands while the lined bottle is being filled. The filling of the lined bottle of the present invention is relatively easy in comparison and involves less chance of contamination thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. A combination of a container and a sanitary disposable flexible liner comprising:

a container and a tube of flexible material having one open end and one closed end;

two flexible supporting strips attached to the outside surface of said tube adjacent the open end thereof, said container having a supporting surface on the interior thereof cooperating with said flexible strips to suppor-t the flexible tube within said container.

2. The combination according to claim 1 wherein said strips are of substantially equal length and correspond substantially to the width of said tube when the tube is in a flattened state.

3. The combination according to claim 1 whereinthe ends of said strips are beveled to allow the formation of a smooth circle when the strips are bowed.

4. The combination according to claim 1 and including a cap for said container, said cap cooperating with said supporting strips of said liner to form a seal for said combination.

5. The combination according to claim 4 wherein said cap has a downwardly projecting retaining means for retaining said liner on said supporting surface of said container.

6. A sanitary disposable flexible liner for a container, said liner comprising:

a tube of flexible material having one open end and one closed end; two flexible supporting strips attached to the outside surface of said tube adjacent said opened end thereof,

said strips being of substantially equal length, said said legs, when bowed, forming an outside surface v of circular configuration for cooperating with a supporting surface in a container to support said liner in said container.

surface in a container to support said liner in said 5 container. 7. A sanitary disposable flexible liner for a container,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Said liner Comprising: 1,513,395 10/1924 Holmes 15o-3 X a tube of a llexible material having one open end and 2,093,975 9/1937 Farmer 229-52 One CIOSed end; l0 2,497,198 2/1950 Allen 21S-ll a llexible supporting strip, said strip being folded and 2,575,283 11/ 1951 Menrath 21S-12 having two legs, each leg being attached t0 the out- 2,873,905 2/1959 Denton 229-55 side surface of said tube adjacent said opened end 2,987,209 6/ 1961 Leonard 2l5-ll thereof, said legs being substantially equal in length, 3,259,268 7/ 1966 Anderson 220-63 X said legs each corresponding substantially to the width 15 of said tube when said tube is in a attened state, and DONALD F- NORTON, Primary Examiner. 

